The Sun. — London, England, 1818-01-15 00:00:00

THE COUNTRY. We tearer that the strjoined pious 30 excel hie Letter did u : , t'appear earlier, considering date, in the res t erctAble and loyal Journal from which we have extracted it, but we conclude that t Vie pressure of temporary matter OCC , ISIOIIC( the delay : (Flom. The Keatish Gazette of the 13th Inst) BIASPIIENIOUS PARODIES. "TO THE PEOPLE OF EVGL.IND. " My Conatrymen,-60 a subject so sacred A that wtitch involves the soleiginity and the very existence of Religion, it would be improper at this time to attempt a discussion, without pre viously resolving to cast from our minds every feeling tha is connected" with party, and generally, whatever 1114,' operate to abstract us from that awful veneration which exclusively belongs to the worship of our God. - • " For in whate‘er way we may wish to consider this most important s u bject, Religion, whether as an obliga!ion imposed on us by onr iwayenly Fa ther, or as the reveretr hotna t :e that - is spon -taneotisly paid to, him by the beit:s whom he hath created or, whether we consider it only with relation to its beneficial and blessed rest& s to our nature, as the balm of consolation, the cntb Of strength, and the shield of weakness— the mighty cement, and the mighty bond, that uniteth and hindeth society together—whichever way we proceed to con,ider it, on every view, and on every side, the subject is of so vast, and of such trauscendant importance, that all others sink and ‘'issolee away before. it ; and man, universal man, amidst all Its diversities, all his Sects, and all his Nations, acknowledges one great, eternal Con formity—one glorious subject of universal compe tition,—how best, the overflowings of the heart, may be pouted forth before the throne of (he Creatot—now most 11°14, and most sublimely, shall be constructed that language which is to be devor:d to his intercourse with the Majesty of Heaven. " And is it this holy language, my friends—is it this sacred language, devoted to the worship of our Saviour and our God, that the -impious have dared to blaspheme ? And is it here—here, in a land of chtistianity—is it here, in our own Eng land, and in the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. at a period of great and miraculous de lverance, that this noly language has been blas pi,crnmisly profaned, and that it has become be- Tessary to enact new laws to protect from pro fanation the public worship of our God ? How fearfully—how awfully ominous, does such a to ate of society appeal—what a reproach, among na . tines, does our country exist ? Lives there a hu man being, I would ask, on the face of the earth, believing in the Deity, who refuses to inculcate on the dis,olute around him, Sacred he the language devoted to our God ?' Lives there a Pagan, or a worshipper of Mahomet, who, in the midst of his errors, -refuses to exclaim, Sacred he the language devoted to our God ?' Liv.s there a Christian of any sect or denomination, , pee , -'actr God ?' L'vesJtltere ate Englishman, Ito matter what may he his creed, or what climate his resi dence, who, remembering with tenderness those beautiful compositions which the piety of his fa thers had incorporated with religion, now hears without bOrror and manly indignatlon, that all have been profaned—all have been burlesqued—all impiously blasphemed ? That from the face of the very Creed trout the prayers of supplication, and from the very prayer which was taught and commanded by the blessed Saviour himself, the name of the holy, Of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Almighty God himself, have been ex punged, that names might be substituted—lncre dible blasphemy ! names that wretches like these leonld exhibit to the world, as polluted with pro fligacy and blackened with crimes ! ! ! " My Countrymeo, if there should indeed be found any among you, so lost to Heaven, and so hardener) in e. ickedness, as to bz.- capable of answer ing all these interrogatories in a manner hostile t o the injesty of the Creator (and that there may be, some recent:extthations would almost tempt us to believe) won't! you not wish that such men should he separated by some visible mark front the rest of society ? Would you not be ready with me to exclaim, let them be collected, and kept apart from the people, lest the vengeance of the Almighty descend upon all—let their paths be cir cumscribed, their residence defined, and a hoop of infancy be drawn round their dwelling, that the good may litiow whom to approach, and whom to shut, and that the rulers of the land may at all times, and in all seasons, be enabled to distin visit between the worshippers of Heaven, and the dcgr:lders of its throne. " My Countrymen, it has been said (but every raccting 'man %void(' fain disbelieve it), that there tire at thisHtime men of a distinguished condition in life, and wen, %silo on all occasions affect to enlighten the people, who are strenuously endea vouring to associate the ' Liberty of the Press' ith the cause of Blasphemy ! Almighty God, can this be tine % . - tan t bete indeed be men who would thus wickedly repay the bounty of Provi dence ! And thus pervert the very blessing which dist , eminat es and knowledge among us, into an. engine of assault, against the dignity of Hea ven If it in deed he so, let ns then in time he. gin to mourn, .and to deprecate the wrath that must consume us : and let the good men of every ra tio n and of every faith, he henceforth slow to *solicit their Creator for blessings,. lest the uick edness and audacity of man, trampling ian all that is sacred, should glory iu converting the very bounty of Omnipotence to a sour c e , o f pions rebellion, a magazine of blasphemy and " Let 111 now, my Countrymen, leaving then an d t b c i r d hornin tiOnS to the rising indignation of ina „ , an d t he protracted vengeance of Heaven, proceed dispassionarely, if we can, to investigate nrinniry consequences, and the dreadful pro gress of such impious publications as are DOW nhotit to cover the, land, and in - d o i ng t hi s, it will neiessary to make our language intelligible, Cay !C, sensible and pious net but to those wretches, and to the very lowest of those wretchez, who are known to assemble for the purpose of -inging or chaunting these detestable Parodies. It wools' obviously be too much to expect front many of these bla•rthemers, that they should have any distinct conception of that association of .leas, or'that . 'power of the mind, by which the image of one thing is so connected with that of another, that neither can be seen without' both recurring with certain impression on thememory ; hut every man who has been long accustomed to ittend places of public worship, must be sensible that he never now can approach either the sounds of prayer, or of those sacred tunes that are usu ally associated with them, withoto having both the prayers and the tunes instantly brought to his recollection ; and, if his mind be not otherwise strongly occupied, without feeling within himself a certain share of those Divine and peculiar emo tions, which are the pious attendants on prayer and public worship. " Now, need he be told, that a great part of these holy emotions proceeds from the early as sociation be had been accustomed to ? The as sociation of these sounds, anti these prayers, with the publid worship of his God ? Does he not feel, that had he been equally accustomed to hear those prayers and tunes applied to profane amid ridiculous purposes, that the effects of these se rious impressions would be proportionably weak ensd, and that the very same sounds, instead of uniformly pi odocing religious emotions, as they now do, might just as it chanced, produce an image to the mind either favourable or hos tile to the solemnity and interests of religion ? " Thus, my friends, .it beyond contradiction appears, that by permitting our psalms, or our sacred language, to be prostituted to ludicrousS, or profane uses, we not only wilfully suffer to be insulted the Majesty of (leaven, but that the least pernicious consequence of it, is, that the mind is distracted at the time of religions - worship with an association of mental images, or recollections hostile in the highest, and in every degree to the revetenee and gratitude we owe to our God. And is this, 1 would ask you, it itself no crime ? Is it no crime to steal our thoughts from the worship. of the Most High ? Would it be no crime to ex hibit before the eyes of a congregation collected in prayer, obscene, lewd, or ludicrous images ? And is not this as effectually done, by associating them in she memory with the most sacred of names ? And can it be really believed, that any man who has frequently attended those impious orgies, which are knoitsn to have had existence, and for which so many of the blasphemous parodies were originally constructed, will at any time hereafter be able to • bring his mind to the same devout frame it possessed prior to his guilty initiation ?_ Is there not danger now, even among the good, who have read these wicked productions, that cer tain recollections will involuntarily rise in the time of devotion, and rush between them and that so lemn impression Of holiness, which undivided re ligious associations had till now rendered inse parable from the exercises of prayer ? Is it not at least to disturb our weditatious, and steal away the fervency that belongs to oiir worship, or is it only not robbery, ,to steal our devotion from God? . „ ilitU `ttr, hi v'aistreCi rolit are infinitely greater than many of you can con• ceive, and far more awful than, the wicked will dare to confess. For so powerful are they, in minds however depraved, which have once - been deeply imbued with religion, and habituated to its worship, that amidst all the hareiihood—all the profligacy, and all the impiety of these wretches— in the very height of their nocturnal orgies, where the name of the Saviour is never heard, or only heard to be scoffed ar—at the instant that the im pious is rising to applaud the blasphemous pro duction of his club—at that vety moment, his ad 141°Hishing sold bids him to beware !—recalsto his memory the 11(4 associations he bad witnessed in his youth, and at the very instant when he glories in reviling the majesty of. Heaven, he most re members—there is a God ! Solemn, sacred asso- ciations, that none but the impious would destroy. " Bat let us now, my friends, proceed to con sider the effect of these wicked productions, in another and still more awful light ; and let us re member that many of its are already farhers, many of us have sisters and brothers, and many may yet have infants to rear. Now, do we not plaint) , see and confess the inestimable value of, these undi vided solemn associations in our earliest minds ? Is it no crime, then, to anticipate the religions impressions out youth ? Is it nothing to impnint on their earliest minds obscene, ludicrous, or blas ['heinous associations with the most awful of : names, and the most holy of worship ? Is' it no crime to lessen their reverence for religion and for God ? And are the morals and piety inculcated by religion, nornow worth preset viug for the rising generation ? If the faith of the father be built on an inaccessible rock, us a nithercan be answer for the faith of his offspring, as a man can be answer for the rising generation ? ‘.l I will not, m y countrymen, detain you any longer on this awful consideration, forl believe that with all the - follies of your parties . , and all their passions, it is a Christian people II airs ad dressing, • Christians in their hearts—and that many millions of you are still sound religious men ; as such it can require little beyond reflec tion, to put you out of love with the blopherner, and the blasphemy, however they may be vindi cated, or however they may he cherished. But 1 shall now proceed to impress on your minds what . may be the dreadful consequences of having it be lieved that impicry hAs a party in England, that the law has no punishment for blasphemy. For if such specimens as those the late trials have spread over the land, may now be fearlessly pub lished, for the perusal of all who can read, it is evident that they may soon be made to accompany , our Bibles, arid be laid side by side with our Prayer Buo%s in the Church ; and if this may be done; who shall expect that the engraver will spare his representations, or that the profligate ballad singer will be mute in the streets ? But this is not all, for if that which all men have called impiety. till now, is impiety no longer, and that which good men have ca Iled blasphemy, 4 no longer blasphemy, veho shall say that impious representations of the Savinar of mankind otav not accost us in opr streets, or that person ft tions of the ever Living God la:mself miry not be exhibited at one fairs ! Does this strike vou as horrible, my friends ? Then let us rise up in time to oppose the dreadful torrent approaching. Let us get together in our towns, and collect in our counties; let every vil lage bear witness to our 'just indignation. You are, my - countrymen, a humane people, at the bottom of your hearts you are religious - , -end you will not suffer the souls of the whole rising gene ration to be lost, without an effoi t. You Will not endure to hear from the Lake of Torments,' the groans and Idle agonies of your children, cry ing Out to you with just but horrible reproaches— ' Father ! father ! why did you abaudon our God !' " My countrymen, I repeat to you, let us get together in our villages, and our constitutional meetings with all religious, all sects, and all par ties, that assent to the doctrines—' Sacred be the language devoted to our God,' for this is the sa cred cause of all. We have often before met to Resolve for worldly purposes—let us now meet to Resolve for the preservation of religion and so ciety, and for the glory of our God.' For what is it do we wait i Do we wait till the horrible inundation shall have overwhelmed us ? Or do we wait for that awful day, ' That deep and dreadful organ pipe, the thunder, shall pronounce through the opening Heavens,' Tremble, thou wretch ; Thou, worm of dreadful responsibility— Thou, who wouldst not preserve one language sacred to thy God I • " Kentish Castle, Christmas Day, 1817." Thursday, before the Tribunal of Correctional The King's Advocate concluded a long by demanding that the defendant SI) o sad be condemned to three months imprisonment, and a fine. of 50 frauct.—The further hearing was postponed for eight days. FIvE PER CENTS. l" Friday 65 f. 70 c. " Saturday 65 f. 70c. " CONSTANTINOPLE, DEC. Baron de Strogonoff, the Russian Minister, in consequence of the delays interposed by the Turkish Govern• !Tient in all its transactions, was desirous of giving another form to his negociations, particularly re specting the liquidations still pending in conse• quence of the Treaty of Bucharest. His propo.. sitions have not been agreed to, and there seems no possibility of accelerating the progress of this affair. " A question has arisen respecting the ill treatment of a Turkish vessel by the Commandant of the Russian port of Balablana, in the Black Sea. The Divan has demanded an explanation of the Russian Minister, who, on his part, having no instructions, has requested time to give an an 1. KENT. I saver. " There has been great tumults at Smyrna be tween the Greeks and the Turks. The whole of the Militia were two days and two nights under arms. These contests arose out of disputes re• specting commercial objects; and even the foreign ConSuls were in danger. MADRID, Dac. 30.—The King has con ferrer! the Grand Cordon of the 0, der of Charles 111. on the Prince de Metteroich, the Austriaa Minister for Foreign Arfairb. " ROME, Dec 22 o;:ject of the State Prisoners woo have been brought here was to excite a general revolt, and the more easily to suc ceed, they wished to excite the populace to pil lage, incendiary crimes, and assassination. A quantity of arms, particularly poniards, recently manufactured, have been discovered. The pretext of the conspiracy was the establishment of the In dependence of Italy ; but the principal motivesof the Chiefs were ambition and avarice. " Amongst the persons accused are some of superior rank, It is reported that the Chiefs of the Conspiracy were Members of the Association of Carbonari, which had been introduced into the Marches from the kingdom of Naples. • " FRANKFORT, JAN. 2.—The Baron d'Attstet.. tin, the Russian Minister here, has been seem.. dited by his Court to the Germanic Diet. it ..ttm known that the mission of th e Prussian Councillo r of State,• Jortiao, chiefly re• fates to the arrangement of the military affairs of the• Germanic Confederation. It is believed that he will himself make known the arrangements which have been adopted at Vienna, and he is ins-. patiently expected. " The Ministers of the Diet, who h►ave ad dressed to their respective Cotlrts,t•he proposition of the Baron de Plessen, the Mecklenburg Mi nister, respecting the establislithent of bases lot provincial representations, have solicited instruc tions without delay, it being generally desired that the Diet should take this question into cots- sideratiou as soon as possible. " Several chateaux and other habitations, in Franconia, have been destroyed in consevemace of being set ou fire I,oy Incendiaries. These crismea arc attributed to the Sectaristi of ['ceche. NURENIBpiG, JAN. 2.—The Austrian Impe— rial Family are expected at Prague in the springy, and to reside there during part of the summer." The treatment which the English receive in every part of France is in the highest degree insult-- lag and offensive, nor are our fair Countrywomen exempt from the brutal attacks of degenerat* Frenchmen. They even spit at female English travellers on the roads, and in the French Metro polis make no scruple of outraging the feelings of English Visitors, w h o , a pp re h ens i ve of exposing themselves to som e difficulty anal d anger if t h ey were to manifest an open resentment, quietly submit, except upon very particular occasions, one of which we lately mentioned. in a letter from Paris, as having occasioned a duel, that by this time has probably ended fatally to the French assailant. This temper of the• pn ' plasm . in France, for we wish to divide them from the People at large, silents the savage io fhtence of the Revolution, which destroyed all good principles in Frenchmen, and debased their manners. But a People, like the French, light, giddy, variable, and fantastic, may soon be converted in general into a barbarous mob, as was too dreadfully manifested in their execrable Re volution, and if the Demagogues Were once more to gain the ascendancy, the same.arrocions scenes vould, most probably, again spread ruin over France, and consternation over Europe. Yet shallow Politicians, who cannot estimate the fu ture from the past, would have the Army of Oc- TO CORRESPONDEN"N. The interesting Letter on die Distressed Objects in the Me tropolis, inserted yesterday, should, at its solemn close, have beep marked by the signature of a Cross-, which un luckily happeNed to fall out in the hurry of publication. TEnttm Fiuus's Second Letter To-morrow. We have nut forgotten the SI•EECIH of Lord NIANSEIELD, sent to us by a Correspondent at '3 . larlow, but shall take thefirst opportunity to insert it. THEATRICAL REGISTER. Performed Last Night. Tim Arm: ROYAL, llnußY-LANE.—Lilliput. After which, A Tale of Mystery. To which was added, Harlequin's THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GARDEN.—The•Point of Honour : Chevalier tie St. Franc, Mr. Young ; Bertha, Miss O'Neill. After which, Harlequin Gulliver. To which was added, Huibauds and WiVes. MAII S. AnnivEn-1 Dublin, 1 France. DUE-1 Waterford; IHo laud, 4 Guttenburgb, I France, 3 Hacnburgb. P RICE 0 THIS DAY AT T Bank Stock •• 090 3 per Cent. Red ..... 814 tif 3 per Cent. Cons. 801 g 4 per Cents • • • 99i 5 per Cent. Navy Ann.. • 105 ii STOCKS ,ELVE o'CLoCK. Bank L. Ann..2o 15-145thi 21 India Bonds • . lOtis. pr. Exch. Bilk 19.. 28s. pr. Culls. for Acc. 84 81 82 Bij HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TOMORROW. Morning, 9 minutes after 9. I Evening, 34 minutes after 9 THE SUN. SOLEM QUIS DICERE FALSUM AUVEAT ? I.UNDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 1818. %V••e received this morning the Paris Papers of Saturday and Sunday last. Those of Monday, which were due, bavo not come to hand. The follo\vin4 are extracts : CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, JAY. 9. " The Committee's on the Concordat and tile Budget, were occupied with their respective sub. jects, but they have not either of them yet ap pointed a Reporter to report to the Chamber. " JAN. 10.—The new Bureaux terminated to day the nomination of their President 3 and Secre . • cries, viz. 1:t Bureau—MM. the Count Dupont, President ; cardonnei, Secretary. 2d.—Despatys, President; Jollivet, Secretary. . 3d.—D'Hardivilliers, President; Coquet, Secretary. 404.—Trinquelague, President ; the Marquis de Belleseize, Secretary. s:l4.—The Marquis de Roche Tulton, President; Kern, Se- ' crctary. Cdr.—Angles, President; Dubruel, Secretary. 71h.—Voysin de Gartempe, President; Breton, Secretary. Sth.—The Baron Dctaitre, President; Mestadier, Secretary 9M.—Albert, President; Paillot de Loynes, Secretary. " The new Committee on Petitions was also completed 83 follows :--- "MM. ValVe;the Count Dutnanoir,the Count d•e St. Alde gonde, the Marquis de VillfranChe, the Count de Bruyeres Chalabre, the Baron de Mortarien, Delong, the Count d'Augicr, Mousnier-Bouisson. " The Committee on the Budget was again occupied with its preparatory examination. " The Committee on the Concordat did no meet. " PARIS, JAN. 11.—It is said that the Duke of Wellington, after passing a few days at his head quarters, will set out for London, and then return shortly to France. " The King received yesterday, after mass, the Duke and Duchess of Orleans and Madembiselle d'Orleans, and afterwards transacted business with the Duke de Richelieu. His Majesty also held a Council of Ministers. " Mr. Baring, hanker, of London, gave, on Thursday, a very brilliant ball, at which the King's Ministers, the Foreign Ambassadors, and a great number of persons of distinction, were present. " The Gaoler of the prison of Donav, from whence Maubreuil escaped, has been taken into custody. " The case of the Sieur Sclieffer, author of The State of Liberty in France,' curie on on ii 11 i t PI la 01 t sgi i kit C i tti le GE Ct iSt r h